Belgium’s Veerle Dejaeghere (cen.) and Fionnuala Britton of Ireland (l) and Mirriam Wangari of Kenya (r) in Diekirch (© Kohl Rosch)
Qatar’s Sultan Khamis Zaman and Belgium’s Veerle Dejaeghere were the winners of the Diekirch Eurocross - IAAF Cross Country Permit Race - in Diekirch, Luxembourg, yesterday.
While the men’s winner had already triumphed in Diekirch two years ago the women’s winner was more of a surprise. “We have seen some very good races in Diekirch. And concerning quality this was one of the best events in recent years. The depth of the fields was good and much better than last year,” said the organiser of the race, Antoine Moureaud.
MEN - In wet weather conditions eight runners formed a leading group in the 10.2km men’s race. On the difficult loop course which features a hill leading runners ran behind each other stretching the group. It was in the fifth round when three athletes broke away from the group: Sultan Khamis Zaman, Austria’s Günther Weidlinger and Mustapha Mohamed of Sweden who had entered the race as the defending champion.
These three stayed together until the last round. It was when they came down the hill that Weidlinger could not keep up with the other two. “They had more speed running down and I could not close the gap afterwards,” said Weidlinger.
It was not until the last few metres that the race was decided. In a sprint finish Zaman just edged out Mohamed by one second. The 21-year-old winner, who had placed tenth in last year’s World Cross Country Championships (short course), was timed in 32:03, while the defending champion crossed the line in 32:04.
Weidlinger, the Austrian steeplechaser, finished third with 32:07. Former Kenyan Nicholas Kemboi, who has run for Qatar since 2005 and had placed ninth in the 10,000m final of the World Championships that year, had been in the leading group at first. He then fell behind, but finished fourth in 32:19. Another Qatari, Jamal Nasser, took fifth place with 32:20.
WOMEN - In contrast to the men’s race the women’s event saw an early and successful attack. After a shorter opening lap Veerle Dejaeghere took the lead at the steep climb of the first longer round. The 33-year-old Belgium soon opened a gap of ten to twelve seconds to her rivals. Running in second place was Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton. She was able to make up some ground during the 5.3km race but could not catch Dejaeghere, who took the race with 18:44. Britton was second in 18:47 while Kenya’s Mirriam Wangari was third (19:07).
Since 2000 Susanne Hahn (Germany) has run the Diekirch Eurocross annually. While she had finished within the top ten every year she finally won the event in 2006. This time she came in fourth with 19:18. Running her first proper race for a long time Anita Weyermann (Switzerland), the 1500 m bronze medallist of the World Championships in 1997, finished seventh in 19:45. Two months after knee surgery she was happy with her result.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
RESULTS
MEN
1. Zaman, Khamis - Qatar 32:03
2. Mohamed, Mustapha - Sweden 32:04
3. Weidlinger, Günther - Austria 32:07
4. Kemboi, Nicholas - Qatar 32:19
5. Nasser, Jamal - Qatar 32:19.9
6. Gizynski, Mariusz - Poland 32:31
7. Maaroufit, Mourad - Morocco 32:39
8. Bahloul, Malik - France 32:47
WOMEN
1. De Jaeghere, Veerle - Belgium 18:44
2. Britton, Fionnuala - Ireland 18:47
3. Wangari, Mirriam - Kenya 19:07
4. Hahn-Ritter, Susanne - Germany 19:18
5. Herzog, Adriënne – Netherlands 19:32
6. De Coock, Stéphania – Belgium 19:41
7. Weyermann, Anita - Switzerland 19:45
8. Kipchoge, Pamela - Kenya 19:51
